Holistic Health Services

Global Hospital & Research Centre (GHRC), Mt. Abu , Rajasthan , India

J Watumull Global Hospital and Research Centre is located in Mount Abu , Rajasthan , India , and opened in 1991. Built to take advantage of a beautiful, clean and quiet mountain top setting, this 102-bed hospital is a haven of peace in an area where there is an acute shortage of health care.

As well as serving the local community, the hospital has an international role as Mount Abu is a well known place of pilgrimage and tourist centre, attracting over a million visitors a year.

The hospital is pioneering a new model of health care in which spirituality, modern medicine and complementary approaches are brought together in a truly holistic approach.

Its work is based on the philosophy that lasting solutions to health problems require healing of mind, body and spirit.

Many of the staff are trained to create an environment of peace and healing through positive thinking, meditation and spiritual awareness.

Most patients receive the hospital’s services free of charge.

Management:

Rajyogi BK Nirwair

The founder mentors of this hospital are Khuba Watumull and Gulab Watumull of Mumbai and Hawaii (U.S.A.). Rajyogi Brahma Kumar Nirwair, officer-in-charge of the Brahma Kumaris international headquarters at Mount Abu is the managing trustee of the hospitals’ governing board, the Global Hospital & Research Centre trust.

The hospital offers General Services in the disciplines of

Cardiology

Dentistry

Dermatology

E.N.T.

Gynaecology

Obstetrics

Ophthalmology

Orthopaedics

Physiotherapy

Paediatrics

Psychiatry

General surgery

Plastic surgery

Complementary approaches are offered, including

Fitness

Ayurveda (Traditional Indian Medicine)

Homeopathy

Magnet Therapy

Yoga Therapy

Acupuncture

Acupressure

A general medical assessment offering advice on holistic approaches

In-patients and outpatients are offered courses in positive thinking, meditation and spiritual awareness to complement their care.

A Special Care Unit provides for patients needing palliative care.

Besides medical treatment through out-patient clinics and indoor services, the hospital also focuses on outreach programmes, medical research, vocational education in nursing, laboratory technology and ophthalmic technology, and the promotion of health awareness.

Serving the community

Our founder trustees envisaged that establishing a multi-disciplinary secondary care hospital at Mount Abu would help bridge a yawning gap in health services in district Sirohi, Rajasthan. At the time, four hospitals with a combined bed strength of 457 served the district’s roughly 700,000 strong population. It therefore comes as no surprise that besides offering medical services through out-patient clinics and hospitalisation, the hospital has since then, expanded its operations to focus on community outreach programmes, medical research, vocational education in paramedical streams and the promotion of health awareness.

To contribute to our activities, if you are an Indian donor (resident of India ) please use the Donation option on this page.

The G V Modi Rural Health Care Centre & Eye Hospital at Abu Road was built in 1994 with support from the Modi family of Surat , our patron – Robin Ramsay of Australia , and Government funding received under the National Programme for Control of Blindness.

The hospital was established as a general health centre, also housing a laboratory, x-ray unit, pharmacy, dental clinic, and most important, an eye clinic that would function as a referral cum post-operative check-up clinic for the many eye patients seeking surgery for cataract, glaucoma and other blindness causing illnesses.

Since then, the ophthalmic unit has been shifted to the Global Hospital Institute of Ophthalmology. The G V Modi Rural Health Care Centre presently houses a family medicine clinic and blood collection centre.

The Brigadier Vora Clinic and Jyoti Bindu Diagnostic Centre was established at Vadodara ( Baroda ) in 1993.

It houses a family medicine clinic, a laboratory and basic imaging diagnostic services. It offers free consultations in various medical disciplines. The clinic also organises health awareness programmes in schools, at community centres and for groups in the police department.

Future plans on the anvil include further development of the laboratory facility and arranging medical consultation programmes in rural areas bordering the city centre, so as to benefit the weaker sections of society.

BSES MG Hospital, Mumbai , India

In the year 2002, the Global Hospital & Research Centre Trust entered into a public-private (sector) partnership (PPP) with the BSES and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The BMC allocated land for a hospital at Andheri in Mumbai, the BSES covered the cost of constructing and equipping the hospital building while the management of BSES MG Hospital as it is called, was taken on by the Global Hospital & Research Centre Trust.

It also offers diagnostic, indoor and operative facilities. It has a well equipped laboratory, imaging department, blood bank and pharmacy. The hospital conducts health check-ups and specialty clinics which bring together a number of consultants to proffer advice to large numbers of patients. Much emphasis is placed on organising medical camps for underprivileged sections of society and continuing medical education programmes.

The excellent response of the community to the Global Hospital Institute of Ophthalmology resulted in the construction of a new eye wing adjacent the existing centre.

The creation of this new facility, named the P C Parmar Foundation Global Hospital Eye Care Centre, was supported by the Parmar Foundation, Orbis International Inc. and New World iCare Pvt. Ltd. Launched in 2007, it houses specialist ophthalmic clinics, private hospital rooms and an area to teach ophthalmology.

The commissioning of this unit has drawn a large number of paediatric and adult patients requiring advanced eye surgery.

The Radha Mohan Mehrotra Global Hospital Trauma Centre, a trauma unit at Abu Road constructed with support of the Radha Mohan Mehrotra Medical Relief Trust, was launched in 2007.

The centre offers emergency specialist medical care to trauma patients – road accident and medical emergencies – around Abu Road . It is equipped for emergency and routine surgery in the disciplines of general surgery and orthopaedics. If need be, the centre refers serious cases to J Watumull Global Hospital & Research Centre at Mount Abu or to nearby cities.

Laboratory and imaging diagnostic devices both as support services for surgery and for the routine diagnosis of residents in the vicinity of the centre are also available. A neurosurgeon is attached to the centre on a ‘visiting basis’ and a critical care ambulance equipped with wireless control equipment to ensure prompt attention to cases rushed to the centre is also a vital part of our trauma setup.

Village Outreach

The village outreach programme has been an essential part of the hospital services since 1991. The outreach team conducts regular visits to ten adopted villages providing basic health care and medication.

Patients requiring indoor treatment are encouraged to travel back to the base hospital with the team. The health service focuses on mother and child care, malnutrition, skin diseases and tuberculosis.

Supplementary nutritional (mid-day snack) projects are also run in twelve village primary schools. The village outreach programme has taken up the training of village women in sewing skills in an effort to make them economically self-reliant.

The village outreach team is indebted to the Global Harmony Foundation, Hong Kong Indian Womens Association, Sindhi Nari Sabha of London and others who have contributed to various village outreach programme endeavours.

Community Ophthalmology

Our community ophthalmology project was kick-started in 1997 thanks to support from the Ministry of Health, Government of India under its National Programme for Control of Blindness. Over the years, the project has changed the lives of thousands of villagers afflicted with cataract or glaucoma causing blindness by offering sight-restorative surgical procedures.

The project is presently being implemented by the ophthalmic staff stationed at J Watumull Global Hospital & Research Centre, Mount Abu and at the P C Parmar Global Hospital Eye Care Hospital at Abu Road . Community coordinators from these units travel extensively seeking to garner support from village leaders and local social organisations, such as the Rotary International and the Lions Club, to reach out to more patients.

The recurring expenses incurred towards arranging field screening camps to identify mature cataract cases and the subsequent hospitalisation charges of villagers needing surgery is partially met through Government support. Private donors, charities and individuals, help close the gap between the expenses incurred and nominal charges recovered from patients who can afford the cost of health care.

In 2006, we entered an agreement to partner Orbis International Inc. to launch Project Nayanraj, an intensive, focused effort to improve the ophthalmic health of children and adults in districts Jalore, Pali, Sirohi and Udaipur in Rajasthan and Banaskantha in Gujarat . For more details of Project Nayanraj, click here .

Paediatric Ophthalmology

Project Nayanraj, launched in 2006, is a 3-year partnership between J Watumull Global Hospital & Research Centre and Orbis International Inc. aimed at improving the paediatric ophthalmology infrastructure and outreach activities in districts Jalore, Pali, Sirohi and Udaipur in Rajasthan and district Banaskantha in Gujarat .

At the outset of the project, Orbis International Inc. sponsored the acquisition of essential paediatric ophthalmology equipment thus commissioning a fully-equipped paediatric eye care department at the P C Parmar Foundation Global Hospital Eye Care Centre, an extension wing of our sister concern the Global Hospital Institute of Ophthalmology at Abu Road. It is also assisting in training staff in paediatric ophthalmology.

Our ophthalmic staff implementing this project has a target of screening 80,000 school and pre-verbal children for ocular diseases, especially focusing on childhood ailments like amblyopia which need early detection. Children having refractive errors are being given free spectacles. Both sight restorative surgery such as congenital cataract and trauma, as well as non-sight restorative surgeries like squint and ptosis are conducted.

Besides, 1000 school teachers and 54 ophthalmologists/ paediatricians/ general practitioners are being trained in screening techniques so as to diagnose and manage paediatric ocular health problems at a primary level. Most importantly, 10,000 mothers and guardians are being educated about methods to prevent the occurrence of ocular diseases in children.

Remote Community Service

It is commonly seen that poor village people who lead a hand to mouth existence do not visit a health care centre until their disease takes a turn for the worse. Can you blame them? At the lower end of the economic ladder, taking a day off to visit a doctor – especially one who is located a day’s trek away – can mean keeping your family hungry. This is why if you desire to make a difference to the health status of rural poor, you need to reach out to them in their surroundings.

We have discovered that contact is best established through a revolving clinic staffed by a caring doctor and well equipped with essential medicines. This reality led us to partner the K P Sanghvi Charitable Trust of Pawapuri Tirthdham (Sirohi) to launch a community services project targeting remote villages not served by a government-funded Primary Health Centre. We are grateful to the Children’s Hope India (USA) for meeting the cost of medicines distributed by one of these mobile clinics.

Since its commissioning in April 2004, the project has grown to include four mobile clinics which together visit over 40 villages on a rotational basis. During the fiscal 2008-09, the clinics conducted 31663 field consultations and referred 563 patients to our hospitals at Mount Abu or Abu Road .

School Children

In 2004, the support of an anonymous corporate donor and Children’s Hope India (USA) enabled us to launch a comprehensive school upliftment programme in primary and secondary government schools located in far-flung villages and in the municipality of Mount Abu. The programme has three major components – health, nutritional supplements and educational aids.

Under the auspices of this programme, we conduct extensive health check-ups on the school children. Children needing spectacles or hearing aids are suitably equipped. Children are also explained the basics of personal and dental hygiene. Regular follow up visits ensure that children needing medicine or hospitalisation are taken care of.

A nutritional component of this programme involves the distribution of supplements – biscuits, seasonal fruit, a mix of groundnuts and black gram and a glass of milk – twice weekly. A novel part of this programme is a nutricandy that is distributed daily to all school children.

Students are also distributed educational aids, books and uniforms, while the schools are provided sports materials and classroom teaching aids.

Smile Train

May 2006 represented a major milestone in the history of J Watumull Global Hospital & Research Centre. The hospital was accepted as a partner of the Smile Train, a New York-based charity with global operations. The Smile Train works to offer needy children and adults free cleft lip/palate surgery through its wide network of partner hospitals.

“The body and soul together make up a human being. Perceiving ourselves as the immortal spirit, or the soul, our relationship with nature starts with our bodies and every action that we perform affects the physical matter that our bodies are made of. It also has some effect on all other matter around us. Thus the state of the matter around us (and the condition of the world as a whole) is a reflection not just of the quality of our actions but also of the state of well-being of the soul.” -Dadi Janki

Launched in December 1997 at the Royal College of Physicians, London , The Janki Foundation for Global Healthcare is a UK-based charity that researches and promotes a values-based model of modern health care, offering improved understanding in response to suffering and encouraging the development of positive thoughts and attitudes. It uses a value-based approach to support healthcare practitioners through an educational programme, Values in Healthcare .

The Foundation’s original primary objective was to support the work of the Global Hospital and Research Centre (GHRC) in Mt Abu, India , www.ghrc-abu.com , where a holistic model of healthcare enabled by a dedicated approach to values development has been pioneered. The hospital and its associated health outreach facility works in partnership with the World Health Organisation in the STOP TB campaign and is reducing child mortality and improving maternal health in the region through nutritional supplements, health checkups and immunization.

“We are moving into an environment of increasing spiritual awareness. Spirituality and values need to be integrated into the healthcare system” -Dr. Craig Brown, MB. ChB, MRCGP

Janki Foundation Partners:

*Global Hospital and Research Centre, Mt Abu , India

* Point of Life Foundation (POL), USA

* Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University

Dadi Janki, administrative head of the Mt Abu-based Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University , is chief patron of the Global Hospital and Research Centre.

“In everyday life, at work, we are on the edge all the time. To meet these demands, we have to reflect on ways to sustain ourselves both as individuals and in the collective. The process we engage in for Hope in Health Care acknowledges both. It links the two from very inclusive, spiritual perspectives. I am conscious of continually bringing this link to the workplace.” – John Cronin, President and CEO, Northern Berkshire Health System, North Adams , Massachusetts

POL is a US-based, non-profit entity which aims to serve the global community. It is founded on the vision of a spiritual model of healthcare that emphasises the well being of the whole person and the integration of a people-centred approach within existing paradigms of healthcare.

Point of Life Aims:

• Explore and expand the understanding of the spiritual dimensions of health, caring and healing

• Provide patients with an increased sense of hope, dignity, and enhanced ability for self-care

• Empower health care professional with better intuitive and interactive skills as well as tools for reducing stress and burn out

A series of retreats, workshops and conversations convened under its primary project theme Hope in Health Care, have provided valuable forums for new understandings as well as opportunities to support and restore morale and dignity in the work of health care professionals. Retreats have been hosted at the Peace Village Learning and Retreat Centre.